Question : Integrated Cyber Defence

Will the Minister of Electronics & Information Technology be pleased to state:-

(a) whether at present a dozen agencies are engaged in protecting India’s cyber infrastructure and these agencies have their individual control and reporting systems;
(b) if so, whether the Government proposes to set up a single authority or agency which will be responsible for the entire spectrum of defence cyber operations in the country;
(c) if so, the details thereof along with the aims and objectives and the likely composition of the said authority or agency and the time by which it is likely to be set up;
(d) whether the Government has also recently launched Cycord (Cyber Coordination Centre) under the aegis of Intelligence Bureau to focus on hacking and online investigations and if so, the details thereof; and
(e) whether the Government has also devised a National Cyber Security Policy, 2020 in this regard and if so, the details thereof?

(a) : The National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre (NCIIPC), has been designated as the national nodal agency in respect of critical information infrastructure protection under section 70A of the IT Act, 2000. Further, the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team-India (CERT-In), has been designated as the national agency cyber incident response under section 70A of the Information Technology Act (IT Act). In addition, the respective sectoral regulators for banking, telecom, power etc., also prescribe measures for the protection of the cyber infrastructure of the sectoral organisations.

(b): There is no such proposal with Ministry of Electronics and Information technology to set up a single authority or agency which will be responsible for the entire spectrum of defense cyber operations in the country.

(c): Does not arise.

(d): Cyber Coordination Centre website (https://cycord.gov.in), launched on December 22, 2018 by Hon’ble Prime Minister of India at DGP’s/IGP’s conference, has been designed to be a one-stop platform for sharing all cyber related matters amongst law enforcement agencies (LEA’s) and other Government organizations. As of now, website is being used to share relevant information amongst various stakeholders. However, CyCord portal is not meant for dealing with hacking and online investigations.

(e): Formulation of the draft National Cyber Security Strategy 2020 has been initiated for which an inter-ministerial task force under the chairmanship of the National Cyber Security Coordinator has been set up. The task force has begun its work through consultations with stakeholders.

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